Return to the Forest
by Rahlian
Summary: The countdown has started. Storybrooke is dying. Emma and Regina cannot stop it. There is only one option left.
1. Magic Beans

**Return to the Forest**

**A/N: **This picks up in the middle of the season 2 finale And Straight On Till Morning. Alternate title for this chapter is **Three**.

** Chapter One: Magic Beans**

Emma came to her feet with everyone else in Granny's when David came through the door.

"You get it?"

"Yeah. Hook managed to get one from Greg and Tamara."

"Good. You okay?" she asked, looking at the bloody tear in David's sleeve.

"Just a graze, I'm fine."

"Alright. Time to get everyone and get out of here."

"Where's Mom?" Henry asked, stepping forward.

"She is down in the mine with the device, holding it back and giving us time to escape."

"There's something else, isn't there?"

"I'm sorry Henry, but she said that when she made the device, she made it so that it couldn't be stopped and couldn't be tampered with. If she stops trying to hold it back, it will go off immediately and destroy the entire town."

"No, that can't be right. She can't sacrifice herself for us." Henry looked around at the gathered adults, trying to think of something, anything. "What if we made the portal in the mine?"

Emma shook her head. "The mine shaft is too small to let everyone get through the portal in time."

"No, there has to be something else we can do. She is family, she is sacrificing herself so that everyone else will be okay. We have to do something. We can't leave her behind."

"She wants this, Henry. She made me promise that I would keep you safe."

"We saved her from the wraith! How is saving her this time any different?

"Henry has a point. We sent it through a portal before, why don't we do the same with the spell?" Mary Margaret asked.

"Because we have no idea if it will work."

"Mary Margret's right," David agreed. "It's entirely possible that it won't but we have to try."

"It is too risky," Emma objected again. "The town won't go along with it, not to save Regina."

"Yes we will," Dr. Whale interrupted. "Because it is the right thing to do. We have never been led astray by our prince and princess, so I say we let them lead again. Anyone disagree?"

There was a chorus of nays, everyone looking to Emma. "I know it is hard and we haven't had a lot of chances to be good parents, but let us try now. This is the right decision."

"And it is the one we will make," David said, slipping an arm across Mary Margret's shoulders.

"We still have time. It is not too late," Mary Margret continued.

Emma reached out to Henry, hugging him. "I just don't want him to be alone. I grew up that way, I know how it is and have to do the same. Using the bean now ensures that everyone survives. If we wait, we could lose everything. Besides, didn't you say that you wanted to go back to the Enchanted Forest?"

"I do, Emma, I really do, but the cost would be too high. Killing Cora wasn't the right thing, Emma, it was the easy thing. If there I one thing that her death taught me it is that right and easy rarely coincide, and this is one of those times."

"So you are willing to risk the lives of every single person living in Storybrooke on the chance that the bean will suck the spell in?"

Mary Margret looked at David and nodded. "Honey, please. Let's take the hard path because if we don't and use the bean to return to the Enchanted Forest at the cost of Regina's life, everything we build, the entire future will be on her blood."

"I understand what you are saying, but there has to be some way of either saving the town or saving Regina that won't risk either."

"The only person who could possibly do that is Gold, and he won't help."

"There are supposed to be two beans left right?" David nodded and Emma's expression firmed. "Greg and Tamara. They have the other bean. You guys and the rest of the town take one portal, and I will go down in the mine with the other to get Regina. It is the only way."

Mary Margaret and David exchanged a look. "We have no idea where they are though," David said, "and we are running out of time."

"Running out of time is not out of time. You were just with them; they can't have gotten too far. Certainly not far enough to hide from us if we get everybody to look. I will take the bean we have down into the mine and use it at the last minute; you track down Greg and Tamara and take theirs."

"How are we going to find each other if we are using different portals though?" Henry asked.

"Our castle," Mary Margaret said after a moment. "King George's old one, the one overlooking the lake. Think of it when you use the bean, and it should take you there."

"Sounds like a plan," David said, dropping the magic bean into Emma's hand and pulling away from Mary Margaret to start the search. "Are you sure about this, Emma? I mean, you were the one opposed to going back to the Forest in the first place."

"It wasn't that I didn't want to go, it was that I wasn't sure. But it is hardly like I have a choice now. Either we go back to the Enchanted Forest, or we all die." Emma said simply.

"I hope that this works, Emma," Mary Margaret said, putting a hand on Emma's shoulder.

"So do I. We need to start looking for Greg and Tamara though."

"You're right. The more people that are searching the sooner we will find them."

"And I will go down to the mine to tell Regina what is going on." Mary Margaret nodded and stepped past her daughter, leaving Emma with Henry.

"Thanks."

"Thanks for what, kiddo?" Emma asked, squatting and holding him by his shoulders.

"For trying to save my mom. I know that you two don't like each other, but you are still trying to save her."

"Well, it's like you said; she's family. And while I may not like her that much, you love her, and that is all I need." Henry gave a sharp nod and a smile.

OoOoO

"What the hell are you doing back down here?" Regina demanded, sparing a glance up at Emma as she came around the corner of the mine shaft.

"We're here to tell you what is going on," Henry said, stepping out from behind Emma.

"What is he doing here?" Regina asked again through gritted teeth. "You should have used the bean to make a portal back to the Enchanted Forest already like you promised."

"And I will, but not without you."

"We have a plan, Mom. We have the whole town looking for Greg and Tamara and the magic bean and will use it down here so that we can all escape to the Forest."

Regina's hands were shaking from the effort it was taking her to restrain the power of the trigger, grimacing as the effort took its toll. "That won't work and you know it. You don't have the time to waste going after Greg and Tamara and the second bean. I have no idea how much longer I can hold this thing back and it will detonate the moment I stop doing so."

Emma looked to Henry and back to Regina, stepping forward, holding her hands out.

"Stop! What are you doing?"

"I have magic, I've used it before. I'm strong. Let me help."

"No. You have to get Henry out of here."

"Trust me, I want nothing more than to do just that but if I do that, Henry would never forgive me. So I am going to help you hold the trigger back to buy everyone in the town above who is searching for one of the last two magical beans in this world to save your sorry ass. I am helping, so get over it." Emma had continued walking forward as she spoke and thrust her hands out with her last words, power arcing, connecting her with the slowly rotating diamond hovering between her and Regina.

"Henry, take my phone and go up to the mouth of the mine and call David or Mary Margaret to let them know what's going on."

"Okay," Henry said with a grin, reaching into her pocket and running up the shaft.

"So," Regina said after a moment.

"Here we are," Emma replied in kind.

"You are crazy, you know that right?"

"The only reason why I am doing this is because despite who you are, despite everything you have done, Henry loves you. I have no idea why, but he does."

Regina gave a short, bitter laugh. "I have to agree with you there. He always believed that I can be a better person than I have ever been. I am the Evil Queen for crying out loud and he thought I could be a hero."

"Well you did volunteer to sacrifice yourself so that all the townspeople can escape back to the Forest. As much as it pains me to say, that is pretty heroic."

"I imagine it does," Regina said dryly.

"I know you have tried and struggled to be good, and I can't entirely fault you with some of the things that you've done. As you said, you are the Evil Queen and I have to say that you have had some spectacularly bad influences in your life, not the least of which was your mother."

"She was my mother, but she did some terrible things both to me and the people I loved to get me to where I was. She was my mother, but she loved power more than anything else, and that is the reason why I am doing this. Not to prove anything to the people above us who will never see me as anything other than the Evil Queen, but to myself and to Henry. The Evil Queen is not all that I am, all that I can be."

"I can get that. I have done some things that have been hard to put behind me, and I know what it is like trying to get people to see that." Emma grunted suddenly, the strain of restraining the trigger spiking.

"Take it easy, Emma. You are new at this magic thing, you have to ration your strength. It does us no good if you use up all your strength trying to stop it cold when we are just trying to slow it down." The conversation stopped for a few minutes while the two women focused at the task at hand.

"You do realize that if your madcap plan actually works, everything you know will change, right?"

"Of course it will," Emma said, scoffing. "If this works, we will all end up in fairy-tale land after all."

"I am not sure that you really do. It is the Enchanted Forest we will be going back to. Your father and mother are king and queen there, and that means that Henry and you will be a prince and princess, royalty. That means holding court, attending balls, receiving foreign dignitaries. You will have to wear corsets and gowns, tiaras, jewelry worth the GDP of a small African nation, the whole shebang. You will have to learn how to curtsy, dance, ride a horse, basically go back five hundred years to become a royal lady and forget everything you have learned about being a liberated, free-thinking, twenty-first century woman. Given that you have Henry, you might not have to marry, but he certainly will when he comes of age."

"And what makes you such an authority on all this?"

Regina gave Emma a condescending smile. "Because while the Forest is just a bunch of fairy tales to you, they are my and everyone else's lives. And even though I am not a royal by birth like you, I was Queen for a very long time." Emma couldn't really argue with her on that, so she didn't. At least the baby girl that Ella girl had will be raised like a proper royal."

"A proper royal? What does that mean?"

"It means that I know you. The people of Storybrooke are going to go back to their fairy tale lives like nothing ever happened, no dark curse, no Land Without Magic. Henry is young, he will learn how to be the prince he will be there, but you were raised and grew up here. You are not going to have such an easy time adjusting though. All little boys and girls want to be princes and princesses that live in grand castles. But I know you and you are going to hate being a princess, all pampered and prettied. You are never going to be a proper lady, let alone a proper princess." Emma opened her mouth to object, but Regina didn't give her the chance to speak

"Don't try to deny it, Ms. Swan. We both know it is true. Learning to wear a gown is the least of the changes that you are going to have to deal with."

Emma scowled. "Alright Regina, you made you point. There are a lot of things that I am going to have to deal with in the Enchanted Forest."

"I only wish I could be around when you realize it. Take my word when I say that you are never prepared for your first royal ball. I wasn't and my mother spent every moment from the day that I turned twelve preparing me for mine."

"Good God, even when you are trying to be heroic you are still a bitch."

"I guess it is just who I am. You can take the evil out of the Queen, but not the woman."

"I guess," Emma agreed. The blond of the pair winced suddenly, the magical current flowing from her fingertips suddenly flexing and wobbling.

"We should probably stop talking, save our strength and whatnot. This is going to get much harder, especially if it takes a while to find the other magic bean," Regina suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea."

OoOoO

"_So we know they have to be trying to get out of town. Half the dwarves are down on the road out of town and the other half are at the troll bridge. Granny and Red are down at the docks with Anton, but they could just as easily have gone through the forest as taken the road or a boat to get out of town."_

"I know, and I am in the forest with Ruby right now having everyone who can track or hunt search the forest for them. I think that it is the most logical place for them to hide out to escape Storybrooke's destruction. I don't think they will go too far though. Their bosses will want them to stay close enough to make absolutely certain that the town is destroyed, and they can't do that if they pick a direction and keep running."

"_You are probably right. The forest is so big that they figured that they it would be easiest to hide out there, which they are probably right about."_

"Hopefully not too right, though. There is no way that we will recall everyone if we have to use the one bean we have before we find the other one."

"_Everyone knew the risks they were taking when we agreed to try to save Regina."_

"That doesn't mean that we won't be responsible if we can't get everyone back to the Forest alive. And that's what this is about, getting everyone out alive."

"_I know that, and I am- hold on, I'm getting another call." _David lowered the phone to look at the screen and made a little noise of surprise when he saw who it was._ " Emma, you tell Regina what is going on?"_

"_Not Emma, Henry. Emma is still down in the mine with my mom helping her hold back the trigger. Have you found Greg and Tamara yet?"_

"_No we haven't, but we only just started looking. If Emma is helping Regina with the device, then we may have more time than we originally thought, which is a good thing."_

"_Why is it a good thing, aside from the obvious?"_ Henry asked.

"We think that they are hiding out in the forest, waiting for the town to self-destruct."There was a slight pause, as Henry took in what Mary Margaret said.

"_The forest? Oh that is really bad. I mean it's a forest, how are you going to find them in it?"_

"_Mary Margaret has everyone who knows how to hunt or track through a forest out looking for them. We have to believe that Emma and Regina will buy us enough time to find them."_

"_I know they will, that isn't what I was doubting, it's just that hiding out in the forest is a really good idea. I mean, if this wasn't a story and it wasn't Snow White and Prince Charming hunting them, they might actually get away."_

"_Fortunately we are Snow White and Prince Charming so that means that we will find them and we will do it in time. After all, good always wins out in the end,"_ David said with certainty.

"Indeed it does. Now, I need to get back to coordinate the forest search so that good does win out." The line clicked as Mary Margaret hung up.

"You got anything Ruby?" Mary Margaret called out.

"Yes and no. I keep picking it up and losing it almost as quickly. Whoever taught them their woodcraft was very good. I am pretty certain that one of them has been laying false trails."

"Can you find them?"

"Any other time I would say yes, but they are being very careful not to be found. They have obviously spent a good deal of time preparing for this. Honestly, I am not sure that I can find them in time without some kind of help."

Mary Margaret let out a little grunt of frustration. "I hate this. Emma, my daughter is down in the mine with Regina, trying to hold back the self-destruct button that Regina built into the curse while we hunt two people who want to destroy everything we are. Come on, Ruby, there has to be something that you aren't doing to find them."

"Hey, back off. I am doing everything I can to find these two. I know what will happen if we don't find them in time, and I for one do not want to die for the Evil Queen."

Mary Margaret sighed. "I'm sorry, I know you are trying, I know you are. I'm just frustrated that we are running out of time and we are no closer to finding them than we were an hour ago. It isn't enough to find them before Regina's trigger goes off; we also have to have enough time to get everyone through the portal as well.

"It's okay, I get it. Still, we have to believe that we will find them."

OoOoO

"How is the search going?" Regina asked when Henry came around the bend in the mine shaft.

"Not so good," Henry said with an understandably worried look. Mary Margaret thinks that they are hiding out in the woods."

"Oh… Well that is… bad," Emma said after a moment. "The forest is huge… If those two have enough of a head start we… will never find them, no matter… hng… how much time we buy them."

"Not necessarily…" Regina disagreed. Though the power flowing from the two women's hands was steady and strong, the effort of restraining the curse trigger was starting to show. Their breathing was becoming labored, and sweat was starting to bead on Emma's brow.

"What do you mean… not necessarily?"

"I… mean that there might… be one place that they could be found."

"Why would you know where they can be found."

"Because I told Greg… where I buried his father… after I killed him over twenty… years ago."

"You killed Greg's father?" Henry asked, tone rising.

"It was… a long time ago… before you showed me that I… could be someone other than… the Evil Queen." Henry pulled a pen and a notebook out of his backpack and wrote down the directions as Regina gave them.

"Alright, I will go and tell Mary Margaret about this."

OoOoO

It didn't take long for Mary Margaret's phone to ring again. _"I know where they are,"_ Henry said without preamble.

"You know where they are?" Mary Margaret repeated.

"_My mom said she buried Greg's dad in the forest after she killed him a bunch of years ago. She told me where she did it." _

"Hold on," Mary Margaret interrupted when he started to rattle off the directions so she could put her phone on speaker so the werewolf could listen in.

"Alright, got it," Ruby said, darting off.

"Ruby says that she knows how to find the place," Mary Margaret said, jogging after Ruby.

"_Good. But you have to hurry; Emma and my mom are running out of strength. I don't know how much longer they can hold the trigger back."_

"We are working as fast as we can. Stay out of the mine so that David or I can call you when we have the bean."

"_Sure thing."_

Mary Margaret ended the call and quickly dialed another number.

"David, it's me. Henry says that Regina thinks she knows where Greg and Tamara are, but Henry says we don't have much time left. Emma and Regina can't hold the trigger back much longer."

'_Good. Tell me where and I will get as many people as I can to join up with you there."_

Mary Margaret repeated the location of Kurt Flynn's grave and hung up again, speed-dialing the rest of her half of the search party.

"The gig is up," Mary Margaret announced eight minutes later, stepping into the clearing with Ruby, most of the dwarves, all armed with their pickaxes and David with his pistol. Greg and Tamara didn't even bother to raise their guns, so outnumbered were they.

"The bean, if you please," David said, his pistol up, but not pointing at either of them.

The two exchanged a look, Greg reaching into his pocket and withdrawing the clear, rainbow-flecked bean. He bounced it on him palm once before tossing it to Mary Margaret.

"That's it; you are giving it up so easily?"

"You want to use that bean to leave our world," Tamara said. "That is an acceptable resolution to us. We want you gone; how you go doesn't really matter."

"She has a point, I suppose," Leeroy said. "I mean, we either go back to the Enchanted Forest with the bean, or we all die when Regina's trigger goes off. Either way we are gone, just like they want."

"Tie them up," David said. "They have been a constant problem for us; I don't want them interfering with our escape. They are resourceful; I am sure that they will find a way to get themselves free."

Three of the dwarves stepped forward, Greg and Tamara offering their wrists to be bound. They were tied up separately against two trees, their restraints double checked before David, Mary Margaret, Ruby, Leroy and the rest of the searchers began to make their way back to the town.

"Henry, its Mary Margaret. We have the bean and are heading back to the clock tower to evacuate everyone."

"_Great. How long do I need to wait before we can use the other bean?"_

"Ten minutes. Set a timer on your watch or Emma's phone, and use the bean Emma has when it goes off."

"_Alright,I'm setting the timer now. I'll go back down into the mine when we are done here. Are you sure ten minutes is long enough?"_

"It has to be enough. You said that Emma and Regina are running out of time. Ten minutes has to be enough."

"_I get it. I'm going down into the mine now. Ten minutes."_

"Ten minutes." The line went dead and Mary Margaret relayed her conversation to David and Ruby.

"It is enough time," David said decisively. "We are almost back to town. Ten minutes is more than enough to get everyone through the portal."

"I just hope that Emma and Regina can hold out long enough."

David just stared forward, face in an expression of determination. "They will do it. Emma will hold out for as long as we need her to."

"She couldn't possibly do anything else," Mary Margaret agreed. "She is our daughter after all."

"Indeed she is," David replied, giving Mary Margaret a flash of a smile.

It took six minutes for David, Mary Margaret, Ruby, the dwarves and the rest of the forest party to arrive at the clock tower to find that the hundreds of displaced fairy-tale characters gathered in the middle of the intersection.

"Alright everybody , we have less than five minutes to get everyone back home. Once the portal opens, everyone has to get through it as quickly as possible. Just think of the place you wish to return to as you step through, and you will appear there. Those of you that wish to remain with, Mary Margaret… Snow White and I, we are going to the royal castle overlooking the lake. Once it is open, nobody stops for anything." David waited for anyone to say anything, ask anything, but when nobody did, he pulled the magic bean out of his pocket, bounced it in his palm once, twice and tossed it into the middle of the intersection. The bean rolled and came to a stop, and melted into the asphalt of the road, a rapidly expanding luminescent green vortex sinking into the road.

"That's it, everyone through," David shouted over the noise. It only took a moment for the first of the crowd to jump into the portal, quickly followed by a handful, then a dozen, everyone quickly rushing the portal. David and Mary Margaret exchanged a look as the last of the townsfolk too the plunge, each breathing deep before stepping into the green light.

OoOoO

"Time's up," Henry announced, the alarm he set on Emma's phone going off.

"Good," Regina grunted. "I am… almost.. at the end… of my…strength." Both Emma and Regina where sweating now, and both were clearly struggling to maintain the flow of magic connecting them to the diamond, knees and elbows wobbling.

"Give me the bean," Emma squeezed out between clenched teeth. "We will… all jump though it… together."

"Okay, on the count of three. One, two…" Once again, the bean lay dormant on the ground, after Emma dropped it, for a moment before turning into a dimensional whirlpool.

"Three!"

OoOoO

**A/N: **Fucking plot bunnies. What can I say?


	2. What Was Old

Chapter Two: What Was Old

"Is this going to be our new home?" Henry asked, looking up at the slightly run-down palace.

Snow White was the one who led the group, made of her family, the dwarves, the Blue Fairy, and those who had sat on the royal council before the curse, Gepetto and Jiminy, Red and Grandma and over a hundred of the Forest's citizens, those who had chosen to stay with Snow White and David, at least initially, and of course Regina. "With a few repairs, yes. Wait until we get this place in its proper shape, you will not believe how beautiful this place can be."

Neither Snow nor Henry had stopped grinning since they had approached the castle, Henry's head turning on a swivel, trying to take everything in at once. "Does this mean that I'm a prince now that we live in a castle?"

Snow and David slowed, looking at once another before looking to Emma and Henry. "Yes… and no," David said after a moment. "There are some things that we need to talk about, now that we are here in the Enchanted Forest."

"You aren't going to say-"

"David and I are the king and queen here," Snow said slowly. "So… yeah. That makes you a princess."

"And I'm a prince?" Henry asked in an excited tone.

"Yeah, you are a prince," David said with a chuckle.

"Does that mean I get to learn to use a sword?"

"And to fight in armor, but not for a few years. However, you can start learning to shoot a bow soon."

"And I suppose I will have to learn to dance and sew and host parties?"

"Yes, but you will learn to fight too, Emma. You are going to be an important person here, and that means that you will not be able to rely on the guards to protect you all the time."

Emma turned away and dropped down onto a large stone. "Emma?" David asked.

"I'm sorry, but it is just a lot to take in all at once. I mean, I guess I sort of understood that I would be a… a princess here, but… I mean it is one thing to know it, and another thing to…"

"Experience it?" Snow offered.

"I guess that is a good word for it. Regina said that I was going to hate being a princess."

"Well, there are probably going to be some parts you won't like," Snow allowed.

"Like dancing and sewing and hosting parties."

"It is all part of being a princess. There is a price to pay to being a royal, and having to learn to do some things, do some things that you don't want to do is that price, wearing corsets in particular."

Emma just gave Snow a flat look, but said nothing. "And there is something else David and I would like to talk about." Snow looked back over her shoulder and took David hand in hers.

"We are going to be living here, from now on, and Snow and I would like us to be living here as a family."

"We were already a family in Storybrooke, what would be different here?" Henry asked.

"Well, we would like Emma to call us… Mom and Dad, for one."

Snow stepped forward and dropped to her knees, placing her hands on Emma's. "I know we have been over this before, how we had to give you up to save everyone, but we are together now, in our land and I know that we will never be able to make up for all the time we've lost, but maybe we can try for a fresh start here."

"I know what we are asking is a lot," David continued, but Emma interrupted him.

"Not as much as you might think. There was a time when I wasn't sure how I felt about you, but I understand that you did what you had to, to break the curse and bring back the happy ending, as Henry always put it."

"It still doesn't change the fact that we put you in the wardrobe and sent you off, with nobody to watch over you."

"I know, and like I said it hurt for a long time, but not anymore. Mom."

Snow White smiled. "You have no idea how long I have waited for you to call me that."

"Actually, I kind of do."

Snow looked over her shoulder, to where David was standing with Henry. "Yeah, I guess you do."

"So…does that mean…"

"Only if you want to," Emma broke in hurriedly.

"I do, Emma. I mean… Mom."

The crowd of fairy-tale folk had followed at a bit of a distance, allowing the Charmings a bit of privacy, but a few words carried, enough for Regina, who was in the middle of the crowd to hear Henry and Emma's exchange. She had an idea what was going to happen to her, now that everyone had been returned to the Enchanted Forest, and she knew that her Dark Palace would be emptier than ever without Henry with her, either one.

"Regina, where are you going?"

"Away," Regina replied without turning around. "I am the Evil Queen; I have no place here, I know that."

"And so you are going to leave, just like that without saying goodbye?"

She stopped in her tracks at the sound of Henry's voice. "I can't stay here, Henry, dear," Regina said, turning and kneeling as Henry. "I have done too many things to too many people to stay here with you."

"But you are a hero now, you risked your life to save everyone and bring them back here to the Enchanted Forest."

"It is not enough though. One good thing is not enough to erase a lifetime of evil. Does anyone actually want me living here with you all?" she asked, raising her voice. Nobody said anything of course, and Regina looked back to Henry. "I love you Henry, but this is my punishment. I hope you will come visit me sometimes."

"Where will you be?"

"My home."

OoOoO

"So how long do you think it will take you to fix everything?" Snow asked, standing in the middle of the Great Hall.

"To fix everything? It's gonna take a while, but we should be able to have most of the castle serviceable in a couple of months. The outer walls and the living areas and the hall here and the kitchens at least can be repair quickly. We dwarves are mostly known for our mines, but we are pretty good builders too. Work is work," Grumpy said with a shrug.

"So you can make it look like it used to?"

Grumpy grinned. "Better, my king. You will barely recognize this place once we are done with it."

"I think we will take your word on that. When can you start?" David said, stepping up behind Snow and putting an arm around her shoulders.

"As soon as Doc can get us the materials. We've taken a look around, and the damage the curse wrought isn't as bad as it seems. The palace is kind of tumbled down, but most of the stones are still intact and usable."

"Good news then. Between the dwarves doing the repairs on the castle and how it seems that the entire castle staff came with us and are looking to pick up right where they left off, it'll be like we never left."

"Except for Emma and Henry," Snow added.

"Except for Emma and Henry," David agreed.

Henry perked up at the sound of his name. "Can I see my room now?" He was perched on a pile of fallen stone, kicking his heels.

"Why not?" Emma asked, wrapping her arm around him as Snow and David walked off.

"This is the royal wing, where we will live," Snow said after ten minutes and half a dozen floors later. As Grumpy had said, the damage was not as bad as it had appeared from the outside, all the stairwells intact, as well as this particular section of the palace. Most of the windows and furnishings had been blown out and the wood paneling on the walls and ceiling were wormy and falling apart, evidence of rats and other rodents everywhere, but the stone backbone appeared structurally sound.

The royal wing consisted of two floors in the north tower overlooking the lake, half a dozen apartments on the sixth floor, with a two-story foyer, saloon, dining room, library and drawing room on the fifth. There was a short staircase that lead from the open, expansive foyer up to the apartments themselves. There were eight of them, four smaller interior apartments on the hallway that cut the tower in half horizontally and four larger ones along the exterior wall of the tower where hallway made a semicircle.

The entryway had a dozen servants in view, sweeping, dusting, hanging floor runners and rugs up against the walls and over the railings to beat them. Everyone stopped what they were doing and bowed as the royal family entered.

"Our rooms are over there," Snow said, pointing left down the hallway on the sixth floor. "There are more rooms that way as well," pointing down the other direction.

"Cool!" Henry shouted and dashed off down the hall to the right and around the corner, the servants resumed their cleaning as Emma and the others followed the boy. "Do all these rooms have rooms?" Henry asked running down the hall and opening every door he passed.

"Yes," Snow said leaning against the threshold of the door to the room he stopped in. "And you can have any of them you want."

"I think this one is good," Henry said, turning around.

"I will have the maids start making it ready right away, Your Highness," an unfamiliar voice said from beyond the doorway.

"And who are you?" Emma asked the owner of the new voice. The woman was of average height, but well padded, with muscle or fat Emma couldn't tell. Her medium brown hair was tied up into a simple bun on the top of her head, matching the fine but plain cotton white blouse and black skirt.

"My name is Jocelyn, Your Majesties, Your Highnesses.," the woman introduced herself with a deep curtsy. "I am the housekeeper, in charge of the managing of the royal household."

"Highness?"

"It is what commoners call princes and princesses, Henry," David explained.

"Oh," Henry said simply, and went through one of the other doors in the room. Snow stepped back out of the doorway and nodded at Jocelyn, who, in turn, looked back down the hall and whistled. Six maidservants dropped what they were doing and hurried down the hall, three moving into Henry's new room.

"And you, Your Highness?" Jocelyn asked Emma.

"That one," she said, pointing at one adjacent to the one Henry had chosen.

The three remaining maids all curtsied and scurried into Emma's new chambers. "So…" Emma said after a moment of slightly awkward silence.

"I think we will go see what kind of condition our rooms are in," David said with sudden false cheer.

"Sounds like a good idea," Snow agreed, and the pair made an about-face to return to their rooms, but Emma stepped out of Henry's room and called out.

"Hey, Mom... Dad, hold on a second."

"What's wrong?" Snow asked, turning around in slight alarm.

"What? No, nothing's wrong, I just want to talk for a moment."

"What about?"

"Finding Gold."

David and Snow exchanged a glance. "Why do we need to find Rumplestiltskin?" David asked.

"To help find Neal. He was hurt when he went through the portal that Tamara made back in Storybrooke. I realize the chances of him surviving a gut shot like that without serious medical attention are slim, but we have no idea where he ended up and for all we know he could have landed somewhere that has technology or magic that could have fixed him."

"I suppose the first place to check would be his castle," Snow said with a shrug.

"Or just call for him," Emma suggested instead. "Rumplestiltskin! Rumplestiltskin! Rumplestiltskin!"

The trio waited several seconds in silence. "That always worked in the fairy tale," Emma said when it was clear that Rumplestiltskin was not coming.

"I guess it is his castle then," David said.

"I assume you know where it is, right?"

"Snow does."

"Why do you know where Gold's castle is?" Emma asked.

"I… may have been looking for something to… kill Regina with."

"That doesn't sound like you," Emma said, crossing her arms and shifting her weight to her back heel.

"It wasn't, not really. I may have been under the influence of a… potion to forget David. It's a long, complicated story that we really don't have the time to go into," Snow finished in a rush. "But the point is, yes, I know where Rumplestiltskin's castle is."

"So when can we head out?"

"We won't be heading out anywhere soon. His castle is at least a week by horse. We can send some guards to see if he is even there and then we can see if he is even willing to talk."

"He is going to want talk. He has got to be looking for Neal just like me and I doubt that he would turn down the help."

"Are you sure about that? Rumplestiltskin has been a fair-weather friend at best. Yes, he is Henry's grandfather but sentimental he is not. Not to mention that he is arguably the most powerful sorcerer in this land. If he can't find Neal by himself, why would he think that you could help?"

"We both have a common interest in finding Neal. And I am not exactly just anybody. He has come to me for help before and I would like to think that he has some respect for my skills in the people-finding department."

"Fair enough." David allowed. "It is just that he was not in the most sociable of moods before we left Storybrooke." He shrugged when Emma gave him a look.

"Well he is going to talk to me whether he likes it or not. Gold is Neal's father, but Neal is Henry's father."

"And you care about him too."

"He is my son's father. Beyond that… we never really got to have that conversation."

"Hopefully Rumplestiltskin will help you get that chance."

"Hopefully," Emma agreed with a nod, returned by David and Snow before they turned to go back to their rooms.

"You like?" Emma asked half a minute later, leaning in the doorway to Henry's bedchamber as Snow had just the minute before.

"Totally," Henry replied, spinning in midair as he bounced on the musty four-poster, little puffs of dust and what was probably mold rising on each jump. Two of the maids were still in the room, both paused in their piling the wall hangings, curtains, rugs, sheets and the rest in the middle of the room, presumably to be cleaned or replaced to give Emma a curtsy. Emma didn't say anything, but gave them a slightly uneasy nod.

As Henry had picked one of the exterior apartments, the room was filled with a cool breeze blowing in through the glassless windows and double doors that led out to a balcony.

"Look at the bed! And I have a balcony!"

"I see. Just don't go out on it yet, at least until the dwarves have had a chance to make sure that it is safe."

"Sure. That can wait. Come check out my bathroom. The tub is practically the size of a pool!"

"I can see that," Emma said when she could. It was quite large, built of the same silver-streaked white marble that everything else was carved from, almost eight feet long and half that wide, filled with scummy rainwater that had come in through the broken skylight in the ceiling.

Kneeling down and beckoning him to come over to her, she dropped her hands on his shoulders, sliding them down the sides of his arms to hold his hands.

"Listen Henry, we need to have a talk."

"About what?"

"About living here."

"What is wrong with living here? Don't tell me you want to try to get back to Storybrooke?"

"No, that's not it, Storybrooke is gone and there is no going back to it, ever. I mean we need to talk about living here," Emma repeated.

"Oh, okay," Henry said slowly. "What about living here, then?"

"Things are going to be very different here in the Enchanted Forest, in how people treat us and how we will have to treat them. We are royalty here, and God how weird that is to say that," she muttered to herself, ducking her gaze for a moment, "but that does not mean that the servants are here to do everything for us."

"Actually, yeah, that is kind of what it means to be a servant," Henry disagreed with the tone that he was explaining something that was really simple.

"Well, yes and no, I guess. Just because we are rich and important here doesn't mean that you won't have chores. You won't have to do the dishes, per se, but I do expect you to make your bed each morning and pick up your clothes and whatnot."

"Seriously? I mean, I'm a prince and I have to make my bed? That is so not fair."

"Hey Henry, as far as I am concerned, you are my son and nothing more. You are not a prince and I am not a princess, so that means that you get to make your bed and pick up your room. And believe me Henry, I am serious. If I catch the maids picking up after you, I _will_ ground you. There are a lot of bad kings and queens, I imagine, and I am not going to let you grow up to become one of them."

"I just have to pick up my bedroom, not the other one? Or the bathroom?"

"Just your bedroom," Emma agreed with a little grin.

"Cool. I'm gonna go jump on the bed some more. I can jump on the bed, right?"

"Just make sure that you don't fall off and crack your head kiddo."

Henry rushed back into the bedchamber, only to let a distressed "aw."

"What's wrong?" Emma asked, pushing herself to her feet.

"Their taking the bed!"

"What? Emma asked again, stepping into the bedroom to see the three original maids as well as a pair of male servants wrestling the mattress off the frame.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Replacing the mattress, Your Highness. This one is in bad condition."

"Oh."

"There should be some mattresses in the storage cellars that the wet and the rodents haven't gotten to. If there aren't, we might be able to find a few in some of the other rooms that haven't been ruined."

"Oh," Emma said, echoing Henry. "Okay. Let me help you there."

"We have it, Your Highness," one of the footmen said, holding out a hand. "It's okay; we can take care of this ourselves."

"You sure?"

"Yes, we are. You are our princess, it wouldn't be right to let you help."

"Fine, whatever then." Emma turned to Henry. "I am going to check on my room. Rooms. Holler if… I don't know. Just holler."

"Sure thing, Mom."

Emma beat a quick retreat out of Henry's apartment and crossed the hall into hers. It was a close replica of her sons', what she guessed was supposed to be a sitting room or something leading into the bedroom and bathroom, all large and what would have been described as luxuriously appointed before the curse.

The maids had apparently decided that her bedroom was the most important area to fix up first, as they were all in there, doing pretty much what the maids in Henry's bedroom had been doing, collecting the furnishings that were too damaged for continued use.

Emma went over to the bed and dropped down onto the foot of it, one of the maids callout out, "no, Your Highness," too late. Emma closed her eyes and groaned as she sank into the mattress, a patch of wetness seeping through her pants to accompany the rank odor that rose as well.

"Great," Emma muttered, trying to wipe the wetness away.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness," the maid that tried to warn her apologized.

"Don't worry, it wasn't your fault. I saw the condition that Henry's bed was in and should have known better. Just get me something to change into, please."

"At once, Your Highness." The maid curtsied and hurried out of the bedroom.

"And my name is Emma, not Your Highness."

The two remaining maids exchanged a look. "You are Queen Snow's daughter, our princess. It wouldn't feel right to use your name like that."

"God, this is going to be a freaking trip," Emma muttered, sitting on a foot chest this time. "I'm okay," Emma said louder, waving off the two maids that had shuffled closer with concerned looks. "It is just that this is a really big change for me, going from town sheriff to a friggin' fairy tale princess."

"Sorry, Your Highness," the first maid apologized again.

"It's Emma," Emma corrected, "and stop apologizing for everything."

"We will try… Princess Emma."

Emma didn't say anything, but nodded in acknowledgement of the maid's compromise. "What are your names? You know mine, it's hardly fair I don't know yours."

"Elise and Margaery, Princess," the first maid said, gesturing first to her companion and then herself.

"And what about the other one, the one that… I… sent for clothes?"

"That is Rosamund. She should be back soon though. If you don't mind, we should get back to cleaning."

"Go on," Emma said with a wave. "I don't suppose there is any point to me offering to help?"

"It wouldn't be proper, Princess."

"Right. Of course it wouldn't. I guess I am going to go exploring then. If I am going to live here, I might as well know the place."

"You might want to wait until Rose gets back though, Princess."

"Yeah, that would probably be a good idea," Emma agreed.

Rosamund wasn't much longer, reentering Emma's bedroom with a pleated, summer-green skirt in her hands. "I couldn't find any trousers that might fit, Your Highness, but this should."

"Thanks. And I would ask you to call me just plain Emma, but I will have to settle for Princess Emma." Jenny looked to the other two maids, who just shrugged. "They will explain. Meanwhile, I am going to change." Emma took the skirt and went into the bathroom, pressing her ear to the door when it was closed.

"You will explain?" Rosamund asked when the door to the bathroom closed.

"Let's just say that she is not going to be the usual princess," Margaery said.

"She doesn't like to be called Highness," Elise continued.

"Well, what do we call her then?" Rosamund asked after a moment.

"She said to call her Emma, but we obviously can't call her by her name."

"Obviously, Elise, but you didn't really answer my question."

"She seems willing to accept Princess Emma, but she is clearly out of her element here. She grew up in the other world, and seems like she is going to have a hard time adjusting to life here."

"What are you suggesting?" Margaery inquired. "We are housemaids, not lady's maids."

"I wasn't suggestion anything, not really, just that we keep an eye on the princess and help her if we can. I mean, isn't that what we are really supposed to do?"

"I don't suppose that even Jocelyn could reprimand us as long as we were looking after the princess," Rosamund agreed.

"Fine!" Margaery exclaimed, relenting after a long pause. "But for only as long as the princess needs us. And I am blaming you two if we get into trouble."

Rosamund and Elise giggled, the former moving to the door. "I will go get Thomas and Jacob to help us with the mattress."

The three maids fell silent for a moment as Emma reemerged from the bathroom, resuming conversation when she left.

"How do you feel about spelunking, kiddo?" Emma had gone back and poked her head into Henry's bedroom.

"Spelunking? What is that?"

"Exploring. We have a whole castle to live in now; don't you want to see what it is like?"

"Sure! Do we have a map?"

"Well, it wouldn't be much of an exploration if we knew where we were going."

"That's true. Can we look for the armory?"

"Of course you would want to see the armory first."

"Well can we?"

"Yeah, we can look for the armory first. But you are not taking anything from it until your grandfather says so."

"I know, but I just want to see it. Come on," he exclaimed as he rushed out of the door.

"So what are your maids' names?" Emma asked as she caught up to him.

"The maids' names?" Why do you want to know?"

"I don't, not really, but you should. We talked about this, remember?"

"You said that I couldn't let them pick up my room, not that I had to know all the servants."

"What I meant was that you shouldn't take them for granted. They were all people just like us in Storybrooke just yesterday, so keep that in mind the next time you talk to one of them."

"I didn't think about it like that," Henry said thoughtfully.

"And that is the reason why I am the mom and you are the kid. Now, where do you think they would put the armory?"

OoOoO

"Please tell me that if I lay down on that mattress, it isn't going to leave a stain," Emma asked hours later as the sun surrendered and sank beneath the horizon. The maids had made significant headway on the apartment restoration. There were no hangings on the four-poster, the windows or the glass doors leading to the balcony, but there were a few scattered rugs on the stone floor and the bed had been made.

"No it won't Your High- Princess. We managed to find some bedding that hadn't been ruined over the years for you and your son."

"Good to hear," she said, right as she flopped face down on the bed. The three maids all exchanged a look, Margaery stepping forward as Emma rolled over and sat up, unlacing her boots.

"May I help you with that, Princess?"

Emma's fingers slowed as she thought about it for a moment. "This is one of those royal things, isn't it?"

"It is traditional for a noblewoman to have a maid help her get dressed and undressed."

"Fine. Go ahead, but just with my boots. I can take care of the rest myself."

"As you wish, Princess."

"Did any of you three find something that I change into to sleep in tonight, or do I have to go commando?" Emma queried, propping herself up on her elbows when Margaery had both boots off.

"There were a couple of shifts in one of the other guest apartments that were in acceptable condition, but I don't know how well they will fit."

"Should have guessed it would be dresses," Emma muttered but waved for Rosamund to hand them over. The maids waited patiently as Emma went into the bathroom to change. Emma had always been a bit of a tomboy, preferring shirts and trousers to blouses and skirts, she was hardly unaccustomed to more feminine wear. She knew when she asked the maids for sleepwear they were unlikely to come up with a tank top and boyshorts but that did not mean that the silk shift didn't feel odd.

"Take these and see if the laundry room or whatever is up and running," Emma said as she tossed her clothes at Elise. Elise caught them and folded them over her arms, bobbing a quick curtsy as she left.

Emma sat down on the edge of the bed and flopped back. "If there is one thing that the Enchanted Forest got right, it was this bed."

Margaery and Rosamund smiled. "We are glad you approve, Princess. Shall we excuse ourselves for the night?"

"Go ahead, but come back in the morning to help me with any princessey stuff."

"I am not sure that would be entirely proper, Princess. We are not lady's maids, just plain housemaids," Margaery pointed out.

Emma sat up on the bed. "Am I the princess?"

"You know you are," Margaery acknowledged.

"And am I allowed to pick my maids?"

"Of course, but-"

"If I have to have maids then might as well be you three," Emma interrupted. "Or are you going to argue with me?"

"Of course not, Princess," Rosamund stepped in. "We will be here tomorrow morning. When would you like to be woken?"

"There is probably a lot of stuff to do tomorrow with Henry and my parents, so no later than nine."

"As you wish, Princess."

The three maids curtsied as Emma rolled under the covers, Elise shutting the door behind them. They waited until they were out of Emma's rooms and in the central hallway.

"Can you believe it?" Elise asked her companions at length. "Her Highness actually wants the three of us for her personal maids."

"I am a little surprised myself that she asked us herself," Rosamund admitted.

"Mrs. Jocelyn will be annoyed though, and Wilma and Henrietta will be so jealous."

"Won't they," Margaery agreed with a grin.

"Who do you think will get to be Prince Henry's valet?" Elise wondered.

"Probably Jimmy or Mac if I had to guess," Margaery said, tapping a finger against her chin.

"I would like it if Mac got the job," Rosamund told the others.

"You always did fancy him," Elise replied with a grin.

"I can't help it if he is good looking."

"He is quite attractive," Margaery said nonchalantly.

"And quite good with a sword."

"Maybe we could watch him when the prince is old enough to start learning to use one."

"Someday maybe," Margaery temporized.

"Someday soon, hopefully," Rosamund said with a mischievous grin.

OoOoO

"Goooood morning beautiful!" David exclaimed as he practically kicked down the door to Emma's bedroom. Emma's three new maids followed David in, clearly wanting to say something to the king, but unwilling to at the same time. Someone had apparently found undamaged livery, because the three maids were all dressed in dresses with the royal heraldry on the breast, six green flowers over a solid red chevron, over a rearing green lion.

Emma sat bolt upright as David's bellow tore her from slumber. "David? Dad? What the hell are you doing in here," she demanded, instinctively pulling the coverlet up to her chin.

"Starting your training," David tossed back, tossing a sheathed sword on her feet.

"What?"

"We live in the Enchanted Forest now, and that means that you need to know how to defend yourself, ergo the sword." David pulled a bundle that he had been holding behind his back and dropped it on the sword. "Got the clothes you came here in cleaned. Get changed and meet me down in the courtyard by the stables. Show her the way if she doesn't know it."

"We're sorry, Princess, but your father was quite insistent on being allowed to wake you."

"It's alright," Emma said, sitting up against the headboard. "What time is it? Actually, never mind. I don't really want to know." It was still very early, the sun still not entirely clear of the horizon. "Any of you know if Henry is up yet?"

"I do not believe so, Princess."

"Fine," Emma replied with a yawn. "I kind of expected him to be in here at the crack of dawn, but if he wants to sleep in, better for me. Gah!" Emma had pulled the cover aside and swung her feet onto the cold stone, recoiling.

"Next task for you three, find more rugs." Emma grabbed her clothes and quick-stepped over to the bathroom.

"You heard Her Highness," Margaery said with a look and a shooing motion.

"I heard that!" Emma called from behind the bathroom door.

The three maids exchanged a look and a giggle before Elise and Rosamund trotted out of the room to find more floor coverings.

Margaery waited patiently for Emma to reemerge from the bathroom, standing in the middle of Emma's bedroom, hands folded.

"I heard you call me Highness in there."

"Yes you did Princess."

"Am I going to have to deal with everyone calling me 'Your Highness behind my back?"

"Probably," Margaery said without an ounce of contrition.

"Whatever," Emma muttered after a moment, grabbing the sword that David had dropped on her bed.

"Princess Emma, if I may, can I ask a question?"

"You can ask, I don't promise to answer."

"Why do you change in the bathroom?"

"Because… you were in my bedroom."

"I know things were different in the other world, but we are your maids. Our job is to do anything you need us to, including mending your clothes, bringing your meals when not eating in the dining room and helping you with your clothes, jewelry, makeup, shoes…"

"Yeah, no offense, but I am capable of dressing myself."

"I did not mean to imply that you couldn't, Princess, but you could at least let us help you pick out your wardrobe, once you have one."

"We will see. In the meantime…" Emma looked around the room as she shrugged into her red leather coat, "well, I don't really have anything else for you to do right now, so I guess you have some time off."

"Or I could accompany you to your sword lessons. Do you know where the stables are?"

Emma paused, fixing her collar and giving Margaery a slightly suspicious look. "No," she said after a moment. "But you probably do."

"I do," Margaery said with a nod.

"Lead on then," Emma said with a wave of her arm.

Margaery smiled, bobbing a curtsy before leading Emma out. The servants had been hard at work assisting the dwarves in restoring the castle and someone had found a long red runner that ran most of the three flights of the stairwell that Margaery and Emma descended to reach the public areas of the palace. The servants were everywhere, at least two hundred of them if there were a dozen by Emma's guess, about a third in livery and all of them stopped whatever it was they were doing when she passed, Margaery a pace ahead either bowing or curtsying as was appropriate. Emma tried her best to resist rolling her shoulders at all the stares, knowing that she probably did not cut a terribly regal image in her Earth clothes and with a sword on her hip.

While her time as first a deputy and then sheriff of Storybrooke had not been her first time carrying a gun, the three feet of steel on her left side was hardly the same thing. For one, it was much heavier than she expected, the few times that she had actually used one fairly momentary, the blade heavy enough that she had to keep tugging the belt up and as even the smallest holes in the belt were a little too big, the leather strap wider than the belt loops in her jeans would allow. It was also rather longer than was necessary, the weighted metal tip swinging back and forth, tapping against her knees.

Finally, after what was closer to ten minutes than five, Emma and Margaery arrived at the courtyard. David was waiting, legs spread, one hand casually resting on the pommel of his sword, the other on top. He was wearing a diamond-patterned, sleeveless leather jerkin over a loose white shirt tucked into black leather pants, sword belt tied over it all.

"Morning Emma."

"Morning to you to," Emma groused in reply, hitching her sword belt up again and tossing her jacket to Margaery.

"IF you have no further need of me, Princess, I will be going," the maid said, folding Emma's jacket up and setting it on a nearby bench.

"Hold on a moment, maid," David called as she curtsied and turned away. "What is your name?"

"Margaery, Your Majesty, one of your royal daughter's lady's maids."

"That was quick," David said with a raised eyebrow. "I had expected Snow to have to talk you into taking a maid, let alone several."

Emma rolled her eyes. "There is nothing special about it. They were the ones that were cleaning my rooms yesterday, and were willing to compromise with me on my name, so I figured that if I had to have servants, I would rather they listen to me instead of telling me how I should act or dress or be addressed or anything."

"You tried to get them to call you Emma, didn't you?"

"It _is_ my name."

"Yes it is, and I doubt that you would be able to find any of the palace staff willing to call you by it. Princess Emma is almost certainly the best you are going to get."

"That is the impression that I have been getting."

"And there are reasons why that is, but this is not the right time to explain them."

"Because this is training time."

"Because this is training time," David agreed. But before I say anything else, I want to impart on you the importance of your training. While Regina, Rumplestiltskin and Hook are no longer threats to us, that does not mean it is safe out there for any of us, least of all you and Henry, and not because you are a woman and Henry is a kid, but because you don't know how to defend yourselves here. And while you will have guards with you whenever you leave the palace, the Enchanted Forest is filled with bad guys and monsters and there will be times when your guards will not be enough and you will have to defend yourself. Understand?"

"I do," Emma replied with a single short nod.

"Good. Now how about we take a look at your belt there?" he asked when Emma tugged it up again. "And you should pay attention as well, Margaery. There might come a day when Emma will let you dress or arm her, and you will need to know how." Margaery nodded and

Unclasping her belt, David drew a dagger, drilling another hole in the tooled leather and handing it back. "Try it now."

Emma rewrapped the belt around her waist, pleased to see that the new hole worked. "We will have to get you a shorter belt eventually, but you can tie it up around the clasp like so for the moment, to keep it from fouling your legs. Now, while you are in reasonably good physical condition but using a sword is a lot more work than you might think. Swinging three and a half pounds of steel around will tire you far quicker than you will expect, especially when your blood is up and hot. I expect to see you down here every morning with me or by yourself, training. I am not going to go easy on you because you are my daughter either. There will be times where you will end up quite bruised and sore, but there are some lessons that you can only learn through experience."

"Okay, I guess. Is this a 'teaching as you were taught' kind of thing?"

"I suppose," David said with a smile. "I remember how my sword master broke my arm and nearly brained me once when I was learning how to use a shield. Draw your sword."

"There's a phrase I never thought to hear," Emma muttered, but did so anyways, holding it loosely at her side. "And shouldn't we be doing this with practice swords or something?"

"No. Swords are dangerous and you need to learn that. Fighting with practice weapons wouldn't teach you the same respect for you would learn otherwise. Sometimes the best way of learning something is to just do it. Now raise it into a guard." Taking the hilt in both hands, Emma shifted into a wider stance, holding her blade low, the pommel level with her stomach. "Wrong," David declared.

"What?"

"Wrong. There are two main things you are doing wrong. Can you guess what they are?"

"I have no idea, Dad. I mean, I can count the number of times I have ever used one of these on one hand."

"Well, let's see if you can't figure it out then. Defend!" David drew his sword and attacked with a one-handed, downward blow in a single smooth motion. Eyes widening in surprise, Emma shifted her right foot back and raised her sword in a horizontal block over her head.

"Okay, what did you have to do to defend yourself," David asked, keeping his sword where it was.

"I… had to raise my sword… and move my foot."

"Good," David congratulated, lowering his sword. "Keep in mind that this only applies to things with two legs, but as humans only have two feet that means that people will always be weak in two directions, so if you keep your body in line with your sword, you will always be strong in the direction of attack. Now block my next attack with a low guard again."

David drew back and slashed at Emma with a sidearmed swing. Emma immediately shifted her back foot around to bring her body behind her sword as David instructed bringing her sword up to bat away David's.

"Notice how you had to bring your sword up, lift your sword up to block mine. Nine times out of ten, the one who loses a swordfight is the one who tires first. The trick to not tiring first is spending less energy than your opponent. Every time you lift your sword, whether it is to block an attack or make one, you are expending energy. Question: how do you use less energy than your enemy when blocking an attack, especially when your enemy is likely to be bigger, stronger, or faster than you, if not all three?"

Emma didn't say anything at first, giving David's question serious thought. She tried holding her sword several ways before simply raising it so the pommel was above her head. "You got it, more or less," David said with a nod. "Try blocking my attack now."

David went with a direct, chest-level thrust that Emma easily knocked away with a simple downward swing. "Not bad. Let the weight of the sword do most of the work. Again." David swung again, faster and harder, almost before Emma could raise her sword into position. Emma deflected his attack, and the next one and a third. Emma held David's sword over her head for a moment and grinned. Heaving, Emma knocked David off-balance for just a moment, but long enough for her to advance a step with her right foot, bringing her sword down in a heavy, two-handed blow with most of her bodyweight behind it.

David easily sidestepped her attack and stopped her next one, a left-to-right downward diagonal cut with a left-footed step cold.

"Not bad," David repeated as he did some weird twirling thing that turned her blade and broke her grip, sending her sword clattering. "You have good reaction time and good instincts. Enough to work with at least."

"Probably doesn't hurt that I have Prince Charming for my father."

"No, that certainly doesn't hurt at all. You proved that you can think on your feet and can take the initiative. Just remember, let your opponent tire themselves out, then strike. "

"So what comes next?"

"Conditioning. Got to be able to last in a fight before you can learn to."

"Why is that completely not-reassuring?"

"First exercise is simply holding your sword over your head."

"Just hold it over my head," Emma asked flatly.

"On one leg, for as long as you can. Starting now."

Emma just sighed but raised her sword over her head, folding the heel of her right leg back against her thigh. It wasn't too bad at first, the weight almost negligible, the balance of the blade almost counteracting the length and acting as a counterbalance for her folded up leg. It only took about ten minutes before the sword started weighing more than its three-and-a-half pounds. Five minutes after that she had to switch legs and arms started to tire. At thirty minutes and switching legs twice more her sword become too heavy to hold. Emma managed to not drop it, laying it down on the granite flagstones as she sank to her knees.

"So?"

"Good enough," David said as Emma rubbed her arms.

"Gee, thanks Dad."

"I told you that it wasn't going to be pleasant. And we are just getting started. If you think that you are sore after just half an hour… I was dead serious about how… intense learning to use a sword will be. So you can have ten minutes to rest, and then well go around the courtyard a couple of times.

David's ten minutes elapsed all too quickly, and then it was a dozen laps. David had stood with her as she held her sword over her head and he jogged with her as well. While the standing exercise hadn't strained her legs much, she hadn't had anything to eat yet that morning and while she did make all twelve laps, she was definitely feeling the lack of breakfast. However, the run did not finish David's training regimen.

"Next?" Emma asked, lying on her back, taking deliberately deep breaths to bring down her heartbeat.

"Oh really?" David asked.

"Really. I can keep this up all day."

"That sounds like a challenge."

Emma looked at him with an expression of surprise. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Maybe a little." David paused. "Okay, more than a little."

"You missed this, didn't you?" Emma asked, propping herself up on her arms, locking her elbows.

"Yeah I missed it," David admitted with an air of forced confession. "I missed wearing a sword and living in a palace and as long as I am being completely honest here, I might as well admit that I am looking forward to the first group of bandits that starts giving one of our towns or villages trouble. I missed the Enchanted Forest," David finished simply.

Emma just looked at David for a moment before lying back down on the ground.

"Could I get you some water, Princess?" Margaery asked, stepping into view and crouching down.

"Some water would be good. Is there a well around here or something?"

"Or something."

"Go ahead then. Just don't bring it back in a jeweled goblet that needs two hands to hold."

"As you wish, Princess."

Margaery was gone less than five minutes, returning with a cup that just barely missed being called a goblet.

"Not a goblet, eh?" Emma asked as she accepted the water.

"Not a goblet," Margaery answered.

"Are you going to be one of those maids that obeys the letter but the not spirit of her lady's commands?"

"I am just trying to fulfill my lady's wishes as best I am able."

"You need help with your maids, go to Snow," David said with raised hands when Emma looked to him. "Anyways, if you are ready, pick up your sword."

Emma handed the cup of water back to Margaery and pushed herself to her feet, picking up her sword as she did so.

"You see those hitching posts over there?" David pointed at several heavy wooden poles, each about two feet in diameter and three feet high. "Pick one and turn it into kindling, down to the stone."

Emma cocked an eyebrow at David. "You want me to chop up that post with my sword? Wouldn't that… I dunno, like damage the sword, nick it all up or something when it should be an extension of my arm and respect it?"

"You watched too many Hollywood movies, and I think that you will find that your sword will be harder to hurt than you might think."

Emma sighed and hefted her blade, crossing the courtyard. Her arms had mostly recovered from the holding exercise, but the sword still grew heavier quicker, her palms and the fleshy parts of her fingers chafing and fingers generally sore. It took her hours for her to shave the seasoned wood of the hitching post down to a nub, the sharp edge of her cruciform blade sticking every time as it threw tiny chips, requiring a hard tug to free it. Her sword kept its edge a surprisingly long time to Emma's mind, throwing fairly regular sized chips until she had worn it down almost halfway.

The training was nothing like the documentary that she saw once on Navy SEALs hell week or even basic boot camp but that made it no less draining and just a little bit annoyed at how quickly she found her limits.

"I have seen men do worse on their first day," David said, squatting down over Emma as she sat against one of the other hitching posts, arms draped across the sword resting across her knees.

"Good to know."

"I think we can call it a day though. Want help back up to your rooms?"

"No," Emma grunted, pushing herself up to her feet, ignoring Margaery's hand.

"Afternoon, honey," Snow White said from the doorway of Emma's bedroom when she had made it to her room.

"Hey Mom," Emma wheezed back, slowly spinning on her heel and flopping down onto the foot of her bed, knees hanging off the end, Margaery scooping her sword and belt up off the floor where she dropped it and wrapping the sheathed blade in the belt, leaning it against the wall by the head of the bed, Elise doing a little makework in the antechamber.

"You okay there?"

"Yeah, just give me a minute or twenty."

Snow smiled a little at Emma's limp-wristed wave. "Sword lessons?" Margaery nodded. "You should let your maids draw you a bath. And get something to eat. You will feel much better afterwards." Emma grunted. Margaery rose at Snow's look, Elise moving into the room as Margaery entered the bathroom.

"How hot should we make the bath and would you like anything brought to you?" Elise asked, standing before Emma.

"Just hot enough that it starts steaming. I would ask for a hamburger, but I don't think the Enchanted Forest has those. Just bring something cooling." Emma picked her head up and made a quick scan of the room. "Where's the other maid, Rosamund?"

"Working. Mrs. Jocelyn, the housekeeper has the whole staff working on getting the palace into proper shape. So when we aren't waiting on you, we will be helping the rest of the staff out."

"I see," Emma said, letting her head fall back.

"May I help you undress while Margaery prepares your bath, Princess?" Elise asked again once she had relayed Emma's instructions for the water.

"Just my boots, if you have to. I can take care of the rest myself," Emma said without moving. Elise said nothing, just kneeling and doing as Emma said.

It was another twenty minutes before the bath was ready, Emma practically shambling into the much warmer bathroom. "Would you like either of us to come into the bath with you, Princess?"

"Yeah, no thanks. I am nowhere near ready for that. Just… I'll pass you my clothes through the door so you can have them washed. After that see if you can't find a robe or something for me to wear when I get out. Once you have that done… wait out here or find some chores to do or something. Whatever you want until I get out of the bath."

Emma kicked the pile of clothes out though the bathroom door and took half a minute to ease into the steaming water. Margaery had put some kind of oil in when she filled the marble tub, the scent of roses rising and filling the air along with the steam. Emma had her share of therapeutic baths before, but if she had ever had a better one, she couldn't recall. She closed her eyes and held her breath as she slipped under the water, holding herself under, letting the heat soak into every inch of her body.

Emma wasn't sure how long she was in the bath before a knock came at the door, the sound rousing her from near-catatonia. "Yeah?" Emma called, the water sloshing a little as she sat up.

"It's Elise, Princess. I have some fruit, vegetables, cold-cuts, juice, wine punch and tea. May I come in?"

"Might as well," Emma said after a moment.

The door creaked a little, the thinly fogged air swirling as some of the heat escaped before Elise nudged the door shut with a hip. The maid set the tray of food on the wide marble wall of the tub and stepped back to set the cloth bundle she tossed over her arm onto the counter beside the sink. "Should I leave, Princess?"

Emma pushed herself into a more upright sitting position against the rear curve of the tub, picking up a small cherry tomato.

"No, you can stay if you want. I suppose I should get used to having you three around me all the time even in private," Emma said slowly, giving Elise a lidded look.

"We would appreciate it," Elise said with a small smile and a nod.

"Where did you find all this stuff anyways?" Emma asked, picking up a slice of apple and the glass of wine. "I mean, we have barely been here a day."

"Lady's maid secret, Princess."

"Whatever," Emma said dismissively, closing her eyes and letting her head roll back. "What is this?" the blond princess asked, taking a sip of the wine.

"Plum juice mixed with a local red. It would taste better chilled, but I am afraid that we don't have any ice at the moment."

"That's completely fine, Elise," Emma said, eyes still closed. She reached out to the platter and plucked a small sausage link and slice of ham, wrapping one in the other. After that came a small bunch of slightly tart grapes and some more of the sausage. "Had you actually procured ice for my drink I would have to have wondered if there was dark magic involved."

"Oh, never, Princess. Your royal mother has always forbidden magic to be practiced in her court."

"Relax, Elise, I was joking. Mostly."

"Oh. I see."

"You are going to have to learn not to take everything I say completely seriously."

"I will try, Princess."

"So what does being a lady's maid mean exactly?"

"I'm sorry, Princess?"

"I am rather new at this royal princess… thing, so I am asking you what does it mean for you to be one of my maids?"

"Well, we are here to help you with anything you might need help with. Helping you with your appearance like choosing your clothes, jewelry and shoes, taking care of your hair, washing and mending your clothes, bringing you food, run any errands you might need, accompanying you when you travel…"

"Would you be the ones cleaning my rooms?"

"Not beyond laying out or putting away your clothes and making your bed. Cleaning your chambers belongs to the housemaids."

"Mhm. Is there any soap around here? And a sponge or something?"

"I could get in with you and help you wash," Elise said as she handed the items over.

"You three really are all about the helping, aren't you?"

"Well… yes. That is what it means to be your maid."

"In any case, I will have to decline your offer to wash my back. Having my clothes set out, my bed made, my meals brought to me is one thing, but as I said before, I doubt that I will ever be comfortable enough with all this to let you wash my back. Sorry," Emma apologized, shooting Elise a look.

"None apologies are necessary, Princess. You were not raised in this world, raised to live here and we understand. Our job is to make your life easier and the last thing any of us would want is to do something to make you uncomfortable."

"Thanks I suppose, then." Emma and Elise were silent for a while, Emma slouching down into the water and closing her eyes again.

"So do you have servants as well or something?"

"Not precisely. Margaery, Rose and I eat first in the servants hall and some of the lesser servants help us with chores like making our bed or clean our rooms if we are busy with you, the laundry maids clean our clothes first, the junior footmen clean our boots, things like that."

"Hm. So when I chose you to be my maids, it was a step or two up the ladder for you."

"You could say that. But I don't want you to think that any of us tried to become your maids for the bump in status. We are your maids because first of all, you chose is, and second you are our princess and we want to serve you."

"Could you get my robe please?" Emma asked, rising from the water and stepping from the tub. She turned around and held her arms out, allowing Elise to slip the red cloth over her arms. Emma accepted the towel that Elise offered next and bent over to wrap her hair.

"Clothes?" Emma asked as she stepped out of the humid warmth of the bathroom.

"Right here, Princess, but your mother the queen requests your presence in the saloon"

"Why?"

"She did not say, Princess. I was bringing your clothes back when I ran into her in the hallway," Rosamund said, raising her voice to be heard in the bathroom.

"Rose said you- Whoa, what is going on here?"

Emma entered the saloon downstairs to find Henry standing on a footstool before a three-paneled mirror. He was far from alone, her mother and, three male and four female servants dressed in black arrayed around him.

"Emma, this is Giorgio, our tailor. We all need clothes, and sooner is better. You can't keep wearing that shirt and jeans forever. And not to sound too aristocratic, you need clothes that better suit your station. Not to mention that you need dresses for balls and court events."

Emma did not respond, pressing her lips together as she walked around Henry, the tailor and his assistants stepping back. "Do you like it, Mom?" Henry asked, holding up his arms and turning to show off his new clothes.

Henry was clad in a loose, blowsy white shirt thin strips of lace pinned to the neck and cuffs. The pants were made of very fine brown wool, fine enough that she could have mistaken the fabric for something that came from Earth.

"It's very… Pirates of Penzance."

"What?"

Emma just waved a hand at him. "Just a movie that you will never see. Don't worry about it."

"Try this now, Your Highness," Giorgio the tailor told Henry, holding up a coat for him to slip his arms through. One of the maids stepped around to button the coat while the others tugged and smoothed it over his arms and body, adjusting a few pins.

"I am done, Your Highness. If you would step down?" Henry did as the tailor asked, allowing the tailor's assistants to take his new clothes.

"Do I have to strip down to my undies?"

"Only if you want to, Your Highness. Just take your boots off, if you please, and step onto the footstool."

"I take it you are the best in the land or something? And it's Princess, not Your Highness."

Giorgio looked to Snow. "It makes her uncomfortable."

"It doesn't make me uncomfortable, it's just sounds weird," Emma disagreed.

"Very well, Princess. Yes, I am one of the best clothiers in the Enchanted Forest. If you will let us take a few measurements, we will be out of your hair soon. May I assume that you need an entire wardrobe?"

"All I got at the moment is what I am wearing, so yeah, I need everything."

"Day dresses, evening gowns, riding clothes, undergarments?"

"Riding clothes first, I think. Preferably ones that don't require a corset."

"But she will need at least one evening gown fairly soon."

Emma turned to look at Snow with a suspicious look. "Why do I need a dress soon?"

"Well, we will have to have a ball as soon as the palace is repaired and you are going to need something to wear."

"Right. I should have guessed. Probably some kind of coming-out party for me and Henry."

"Pretty much. The transition from Storybrooke back to the Forest is not going to be seamless or perfectly peaceful and the people of the kingdom need to see that we are here, that we are in charge and everything is as business as usual. And it gives us a chance for show the other kingdoms you and Henry, our new prince and princess."

"Okay, I like that last part even less. Makes me think of arranged marriages and things like that."

"David and I would never arrange a marriage for you or Henry, honey, not after how hard we fought to be together. But while Henry means that you will not have to marry, he will be king someday. I know that this has to be… I don't even know how it must be other than weird or freaky or strange or jarring or anything really, but this is what it means to be a part of this family here."

"No… it's okay. I get it, new world new rules. It's just going to be an… adjustment I guess the word would be."

"We understand, your father and I. We will try to help however we can. This is your home now, and we want you to feel comfortable here. "

"I am sure you do and I'm sure I will get used to it eventually, but it's just going to take time. "

"Whatever you need, Emma."

"So do you have a better idea of when this thing is going to happen?"

"Four, maybe five weeks. The dwarves say that it will take maybe half that to get the public areas in presentable condition. Plus it takes time for the invitations to be organized and sent, received and returned. How about we discuss dresses now? This is to be the first formal event we have had in thirty years. She needs something appropriate I was thinking of either a blue or white off-the-shoulder number. Something that goes well with her eyes."

"Full skirts?"

Snow thought a moment. "Yes. And there is her jewelry to consider."

"Hey, excuse me for a moment, but could I have a little input here?"

"Do you have an idea?" Snow asked.

"Yeah, and I was thinking more little black dress and less… well Cinderella was the name I was going to use, but seeing as I actually know her that could be a little insulting. This is supposed to be half for me, and I am not really a corset-and-hoops kind of girl."

"It would be different. Cut a… unique image. Especially if Henry wore a tuxedo," Snow said with a thoughtful expression.

"That it certainly would," Giorgio agreed.

"And that is sort of the point here, right? This is Henry and my coming-out party, so wouldn't it be appropriate if we wore something that really stood out?"

"Yes it would," Snow agreed. "This is your debut, for lack of another word, into the Enchanted Forest's aristocratic society. You are the night's star, and it would only be appropriate for you to wear something unique."

"Glad you agree. Are we almost done here?" Emma asked the tailor hovering at her knees.

"Done taking your measurements at least. There are still fittings to do, for you to select colors, materials, styles, cuts. I could take what I have now and come back in a couple of days, but I make no guarantees on how you like what I bring back."

Emma sighed. "Alright, show me what you got."


End file.
